Review by Frank Plowright

It’s been thirteen years since Carrie’s parents died, since when she’s lived in a small town with her grandmother. She’s smart, good at sports, and unaware her ordinary life is about to change. It occurs when she’s the only person in the school not frozen in time, and she’s saved from three feral killers by a woman with a massive gun. As it’s disclosed early, it’s not a great spoiler to reveal Carrie has alternates in other universes, and they’re all fragments of the original Carrie. Sister Fortune saved her life at the last moment by separating herself into separate beings Carrie’s told are known as shards. If thirteen of them unite, they ought to have enough power to defeat an enemy called Brother Havoc.

That’s not everything from a rapid learning curve Tony Lee puts both Carrie and readers through over Army of One’s first quarter, thoroughly confusing both as to what the truth is. Thank goodness then for the clear storytelling supplied by Yishan Li, which is no mean feat as she has to ensure multiple versions of Carrie can be distinguished from one another. She ensures that even if Carrie’s confused, readers can see Brother Havoc is a wrong ‘un.

Younger readers might not pick up how often Lee just happens to have people in the right place for a convenient encounter, whether for better or for worse, but he moves events along at a rapid clip, with Carrie learning all the while about her new situation. Lee sets that up well, because each version of Carrie originating on a different world means a fair amount of alternate histories can be filtered in, although it’s a world where the Nazis won World War II occupying most space here. Clever aspects include the role of the school bully, seen in the sample art, the crisis set up at the end and Carrie’s conflicting emotions. However, too many other characters are one-dimensional, there to say a few lines.

Army of One taps effectively into the darker form of young adult graphic novels, and like them is set up for a series rather than being concluded here, with Volume Two following rapidly in Autumn 2024. Lee and Li have done enough in Volume One to set up a desperate situation, confound expectations and supply a sympathetic lead character struggling to do the best she can. There’s too much explanation front ended, but with the allegiances and capabilities clarified this looks to be an exciting ride.